Covering Crime in the Age of Virality

In the summer of last year, a video capturing a shoplifter became the talk of the town in San Francisco. The video shows a young man grabbing items from the shelves of a Walgreens and putting them into a plastic bag before mounting a bike to ride out of the pharmacy. A security guard at the Walgreens is seen filming the incident without interfering.

“​​This just happened at the @Walgreens on Gough & Fell Streets in San Francisco. #NoConsequences @chesaboudin” tweeted Lyanne Melendez who filmed the incident and is news reporter ABC Owned KGO-TV (ABC7) in the San…